Friday, April 03, 2020

Bengaluru: Although the rest of the city is under a lockdown, the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) continues to be a hub of activity - over the past week, hundreds of tonnes of medicines, medical equipment, perishables and other essential goods have been flown in and out of Bengaluru, as international and domestic cargo movement continue in full swing at the airport.

Last week, Emirates SkyCargo carried around 140 tonnes of equipment and commodities to Bengaluru and Mumbai from the Far East, USA, Europe and Dubai. Over 110 tonnes of these goods were flown from Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Incheon, Chicago, Seattle, Zurich, Sweden, and Dubai. From Bengaluru, the cargo airline carried around 70 tonnes of medical equipment and perishables to destinations in Europe and Dubai, Kuwait and Muscat.

The airline operates freighters and cargo-only flights to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram right now."“Emirates SkyCargo made a record uplift of 52 tonnes of perishables, including fruits and vegetables, from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai and the GCC countries that rely on India for their crucial food supply- in the process supporting local farmers and business in Kerala. Another 83 tonnes of perishables made their way from Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai to these destinations,” the airlines informed, on Thursday.

Qatar Airways Cargo, meanwhile, stated that it is adding additional air freight capacity to and from India with the utilization of passenger aircraft carrying freight from April 1. The addition of these 19-weekly belly-hold services will see the airline’s weekly cargo capacity to India grow from 2,900 to 3,300 tonnes. The belly-hold cargo flights will be operated on a turnaround basis without any cabin crew members or passengers on-board. The airline will operate freight-only passenger aircraft to Delhi (3 weekly flights), Hyderabad (2 weekly flights), Bengaluru (3 weekly flights), Chennai (4 weekly flights), Mumbai (5 weekly flights), and Kolkata (2 weekly flights).
02/04/20 Swathy R Iyer/Times of India